The extent of activities in the future on other planets such as Mars will be limited by the power that is available for such activities. Generally, the source of such power must come from Earth and be transported to its point of use on Mars or some other planet. Consequently, the size and weight of the potential power supply is limited due to the fact that it must be transported through space in a space vehicle which uses power in transit and is of necessity of limited size in view of the limits on the rocket motors necessary to place it in space.
Solar arrays have been used as a source of electrical energy in the past. However, such arrays are limited to situations where there is a dust free environment and where sunlight is readily available and there is also a problem with size since generally a large surface area is necessary in order to provide meaningful power. Also, solar arrays must be oriented properly to provide power and a storage mechanism must be provided for periods when there is no sunlight. Nuclear power sources that provide heat as a byproduct of nuclear radioactive energy are a potentially attractive source of power since these heat sources are very compact in relation to the potential available heat energy. However, there is a problem with such nuclear energy sources and that is the problem of converting the heat energy into a usable form of energy such as electrical energy.
It would be desirable that a power supply for use on a planet such as Mars use something that was available locally on the planet as a portion of the power supply system. In such a power supply system it would be expected that there would be a weight saving over a power supply system in which everything is brought in from outside the planet. Unfortunately, most planets are comparatively barren and would appear to contain little that could be used without expensive processing in conjunction with a power system. In the case of Mars, the surface is barren and the surface atmosphere is of low pressure and full of dust. This would appear to make the atmosphere unusable for anything connected with a power supply for use on a planet located in outerspace.
This invention avoids the problems associated with putting an effective power supply on other planets such as the difficulty of placing the power supply on the desired planet. This invention provides a compact effective power supply that is effective in a comparatively unhospitable environment such as on Mars. Moreover, this power supply makes use of the dust laden atmosphere of the planet Mars by having provisions for avoiding damage to the power supply caused by the dust in the atmosphere on the surface of Mars.